Reader Stories: How a healthy lifestyle saved my money and my life

This Reader Story comes from Gunnar, a filmmaker, a computer geek, a traveler and most recently an entrepreneur, who has launched the blog Wosla to inspire others to get healthy and save money.

Some reader stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success or failure. These stories feature folks with all levels of financial maturity and income. Want to submit your own reader story?Here’s how.

Until recently I thought I was living the perfect life. I was making decent money doing fun things like working on short films, and I traveled a fair bit.

Physically I thought I was in reasonable shape although I hadn’t done any serious exercise since giving up Judo a couple of years ago following a knee injury. I certainly didn’t think I was unhealthy.

The wake-up call

A few months ago, after showering, I stepped on the new scale I’d bought and couldn’t believe my eyes: 230 pounds! I’d put on 35 pounds in just over a year. I decided that I had to do something about this right away. That same day I went to the gym and bought a membership; I did go a few times, but then, like happens to so many of us, the visits to the gym became fewer and further between them. It was just so inconvenient (should read, I was just too lazy). About two months later I stepped on the scale againâ€¦ 237 poundsâ€¦ What to do? I decided that I had to take a serious look at where and why I had failed.

The sit-down

I sat down in front of the computer the next morning (which happened to be a Saturday), and hardly stepped away until Sunday evening. What I discovered about myself was eye-opening to say the least. The very first thing I did was try to remember what I had eaten during the last month. Of course that was pretty difficult, so I turned to my online bank statement. This is where I got my biggest shock. It turned out that not only had I been eating extremely unhealthily, but I had also been squandering money like there was no tomorrow. Here’s a list of just a few of the things I found out about myself:

I had spent $500 on restaurants and fast food.

I had spent $400 on partying.

I had spent $400 on cigarettes.

I had spent $100 on food that I bought and then threw away.

That is $1,400 wasted on complete nonsense that was making me fat and unhealthy! Not to mention that I really couldn’t afford this kind of lifestyle. That is all my disposable income, and I am still in debt! I just couldn’t believe how wasteful I’d been. I had just taken a long, hard look at my life and myself, and I wasn’t liking what I saw.

The big decision

At this point I had to decide what to do. I realized I’d just been jogging along, not really doing anything with my life; I’d gotten complacent. It made me depressed at first, but then I thought, â€œWhy be depressed?â€ I’d found out what was wrong and it really shouldn’t be hard to fix. So I started researching. I read everything I could about living healthily and how to do it.

I also thought hard about why people like myself aren’t motivated enough to get healthy. I mean there’s the obvious benefit of NOT DYING at an early age! But most people seem to think they’ll live to be 100, no matter how unhealthy they are. I know I was guilty of that. I’d often dismiss my friends who told me I’d die from smoking with the story of my great-grandmother, who smoked a pack a day from when she was a teenager and died at 98. I led myself to believe I was somehow genetically safe from the dangers of smoking.

It turns out that just being healthy for health’s sake was not motivating me. It was the thought of how much money I could save that was starting to rub off on me. Someone once said that money is the greatest motivator in the world, and I guess they are right. In my case at least, the prospect of a long and healthy life wasn’t really what was driving me. So the decision was made. I would stop smoking, cut down on the partying, only go to restaurants every other week and make sure to buy healthy food at the grocery shop (and actually cook it).

The action plan

Now that I had made a decision, I had to plan how to execute it. I gathered all the resources I’d found online, and then researched some more. It was actually during this research that I stumbled upon GRS, this here article to be exact. I decided to cook once-a-week, rather than once-a-month, like that article suggests. Sundays would be the best day to cook, and with me cutting back on the parties, I’d wake up early on a Sunday and cook, rather than lie in bed past noon, order a pizza and watch TV all day, vowing never to drink again.

I had planned for three out of the four things on my list. By cooking for the whole week, I’d stop eating fast food and going to restaurants, and I’d stop throwing away food. Instead of going to parties, I’d go to the movies, bowling, a comedy club, etc. But it was giving up smoking that I was most worried about. I’ve done it so many times before and never lasted more than a couple of weeks. Turns out it wasn’t that hard.

Thinking back, every time in the past I’d lapse and start smoking again when I was partying. I’ve been smoke-free for just over three months now. I didn’t use any nicotine gum or nasal spray or whatever all those products are. I just quit cold turkey. I was outside smoking and was thinking about when to quit. I decided that I’d quit as soon as I’d finish the pack. I finished smoking, and as I was walking back inside, I thought to myself, “Why wait? Quit now!” So I crumpled up my cigarette pack and threw it in the garbage, and I’m proud to say I haven’t smoked since.

So the smoking didn’t really take any planning, but grocery shopping sure did. I sat down, exactly a week after first going over my life, and made a huge grocery list. I went out and bought more food than I’d ever bought before, then on Sunday I cooked for the whole week for the first time. I’ve been doing that now for over three months.

The result

The past three months have been amazing. It was hard at first — I cut out most carbs from my diet, and stopped drinking sodas, but that was only hard for the first week. The hardest part was probably not going partying with my friends. But I adjusted quickly. My friends have also been very supportive. I’ve even convinced a couple of them to join me in this new healthy lifestyle. The best thing about this is that, although I’m spending a lot more on groceries now, I’m still saving $750 per month, and the last time I stepped on the scale it showed 220 pounds! That’s 17 pounds gone in three months.

Not only am I saving money and getting healthier and fitter, I am also way more productive. I’m motivated, I’m starting new projects, and I’m enthusiastic about helping people get the same results as I have. I still have some way to go — my new plan is to have six-pack abs in 90 days. Financially I’m planning to get rid of all credit card debt and student loans before the end of 2014.

Are you motivated enough to change your lifestyle, with “just” the health benefits in mind? Or would the thought of saving money (or perhaps even making money) prove to be just the incentive you needed?

Reminder: This is a story from one of your fellow readers. Please be nice. It can be scary to put your story out in public for the first time. Remember that this guest author isn’t a professional writer, and is just learning about money like you are. Unduly nasty comments on readers stories will be removed.

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Cooking yourself is a huge bonus. Not only do you know exactly what’s in the food you are consuming, but it’s healthier and cheaper. Win, win, win.

I normally cook up a huge meal on Sunday and just have it all week for lunch. I have no issues with the monotony of it, although my girlfriend does.

I thought your comments on depression was correct. I’ve always thought that depression is an important tool that can be used to tell us something is wrong. It’s like a mini wake up call and you have to sit down and realize what it’s from.

Sometimes its just a short term thing which you can push through. And knowing it’s only temporary helps to fix it anyway. Other times its something more systematic, which requires lifestyle changes.

Normally once you’ve looked at what is causing it, you’ve already won half the battle. Which is what you seem to have found.

Second the part about staying healthy on travel. For a little over a year, I spent half time at a rural work site. The nearest place to stay had a 20-30 minute commute and was a touristy area. This meant lots of options in deep fried food and alcohol after a 12 hour workday. Many coworkers gained +10lbs in a 2 week period. I never gained that much partially due to my metabolism. The other part is that I’ll buy healthy food on the way in(hotel room had a fridge) and work out at the gym. I imagine it’d be even harder if you were flying more frequently(I flew twice a month) or to different locations.

I can imagine that this could be difficult.
I’ll definitely do some research into how best to stay healthy if you have a job requiring lots of travel, then post about it on my website.

Personally I travel quite a bit to Tanzania in Africa, the airplane food it self is not that bad, and the food in Africa is as healthy as I’ve ever eaten. No processed meets, lots of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables.

I travel a lot for work and for fun. My tips to stay healthy:
1. Bring snacks with you for the flight, and for emergencies during the trip (when healthy options aren’t available).
2. If you forget #1 or just need something healthy at the airport, look for raw nuts at the airport news/bookstands. Almost every airport sells raw almonds, cashews, etc. Bagel shops and other similar places often sell a two-pack of hard boiled eggs.
3. When in doubt, drink water. First thing in the morning, all day, and especially on planes.
4. Do some form of exercise every day.
5. To help with #4, pack two items: a jump rope (great for cardio) and a list of body-weight exercises. There are tons of these — try doing 100 air squats, 100 pushups, 100 sit ups, 100 burpees and see how you feel. ;) You can get a great workout with or without a full gym.
6. Get enough sleep.
7. Choose when and how you are going to cheat, if you need to, and stick to your plan.
8. Have alcohol or dessert with dinner, but not both. (Or better yet, don’t have either!)
9. If you’re in meetings where food is put out, make sure it’s out of arm’s reach. Avoid mindless eating.
10. When you see something that looks good but is not good for you, ask yourself if it’s the BEST version of that item you could have. Is that cheese danish the most amazing cheese danish you’ll ever eat? If not, let it go. There will always be another cheese danish available to you. But if you’re in Paris and it’s a freshly-made chocolate croissant…well, that might be a once-in-a-lifetime croissant. :)

Great article. It’s always good to remind ourselves that one of the best ways to get rich slowly is to cut down on unhealthy living, associated medical expenses, and live long enough to compound interest with the best of them!

I would like to hear more about any books you found particularly of value during your health quest.

Thanks for the kind words Seth!
The one book that I found most helpful was The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferris. Come to think of it, it might have been the only actual book I’ve read on health. I more into doing my research online. http://bodyrock.tv and http://nerdfitness.com spring to mind as a couple of websites I’ve used a lot :)

While it might cost a little more to get healthy in the short term (more expensive fresh fruits and vegetables) in the long run you’ll save more than that in medical costs. Congrats on the weight loss and health turn around, your life is more important than money and it sounds like you’re headed to a much healthier life!

Thanks Lance!
It’s funny though how I wasn’t paying attention to my health, it was money that made me look at it differently, but now I just see the money saved as a bonus, a side effect of living healthy if you will :)

Good for you!! It’s amazing how good financial health and good overall health are related. Both take discipline, but both can be achieved with changing habits and sticking to them where they become second nature. I had the good health before the good finances, but slowly I’ve made a lot of productive habits in the last year and a half. And as far as heath, what good is all this money you save if you don’t take care of yourself so you can enjoy it later in life? Keep up the good work!

My husband is an airline pilot and is gone for 2 or 3 nights at a time. He has a very difficult time eating healthy foods on the road because his choices are limited to airport foods and late-night hotel restaurant options (which tends to mean bar foods.)

It’s difficult to take food along, too, although I’ve started buying single-serving packages of tuna, as well as dried fruit and nuts.

He is dedicated to his runs/workouts, so he is very fit and, at 53, looks much, much younger. However, the problem lies in his cholesterol levels. Road food is packed with fats, cholesterol and calories. He really doesn’t want to take cholesterol meds if it can be avoided.

So, the solution we came up with is one of familial cooperation. When my husband is home, we eat very little meat, more fish and lots and lots of fruit/veggies. I also make sure we have oatmeal and other “cholesterol-busting” foods around. When he’s away, that’s when our son and I will have burgers, other red meats or maybe a pizza. It’s worked out pretty well and my husband’s cholesterol is within healthy limits now, although it does tend to hover on the higher end of that spectrum. Our son and I are eating better, too, because we don’t crave meats and junky foods as much as we used to. Our son is also learning about living a more healthy lifestyle; information that will stay with him throughout his life.

Keeping my husband healthy is a key to our financial stability as he is the sole breadwinner in the family. If he were to fall ill, we would eventually have a serious money crisis (not right away though because we follow GRS’s advice to have emergency savings, diversified investments, etc.)

Of course, we want to keep him around for reasons more important than money!!

Gunnar, congratulations on your new lifestyle, especially quitting smoking, and thank you for sharing your story with us.

Thanks for that Rhonda,
this sounds like a good way to circumvent the perils of ‘on the road’ diet :)
I do notice though that as society is getting more health conscious, more and more airports and roadside stops are providing the option of healthy food. Hopefully soon we will be able to eat healthy anywhere we go.

thanks for that Rita!
It really is amazing, before I thought I was fairly productive, but now that I look back I’m amazed at how little I actually got done. It’s like I’ve added a few hours to the day :D

I’ve been raised to have home cooked meals regularly. My mom cooked for us kids every day. Now I’m on my own slowly building up my kitchen skills. It’s hard work but the benefits far outweigh the work required. But cooking is a hobby of mine and it’s fun. Definitely a long term plan to save cash.

Tell me about it, my skills in the kitchen were limited to frying egg and bacon and perhaps cooking spaghetti bolognese…
Now that I’m cooking regularly, trying new recipes and stuff, I’ve found out that cooking is awesome! :D

To answer your question, my obsession with my weight and appearance is more than enough motivation to get me to the gym 5-6 days a week, not eat crap, and not engage in destructive lifestyle choices (smoking, heavy drinking, etc).

Obesity and the effects of it runs on both sides of my family so I can’t afford to be complacent. Ironically my healthy diet isn’t the most budget friendly but not buying a lot of alcohol, junk, etc does save money.

My health and the fact I live with two chronic illness is another huge factor. Though it hasn’t kept me from spending thousands in out-of-pocket medical expenses, I know it would have been worse if I wasn’t as mindful.

In fact, healthy eating may help you live longer, but it may not – the drugs and treatments available today are amazing in prolonging life.

What it will definitely do is help you avoid chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, that cause serious suffering as you age. I think it’s a little more motivational to think of healthy eating as a way to ensure you can enjoy the last 30+ years of your life, rather than as a way to live 5 more years.

You’re right Imelda,
modern medicine might help us live longer, but getting really old and suffering from chronic illnesses is not the ideal way to spend the ‘golden years’ :)
At first I was motivated just from the idea of the money I was saving, but that was only for the first month or so. Now that I can feel how this is affecting me, being more productive and having more energy etc. I’m never giving this lifestyle up.
I still have some way to go, my plan is to lose 25 pounds more, but I can feel that I will succeed!

I could not agree more that eating healthy not only saves you money but allows you to be so much more productive. For health reasons (processed foods give me headaches so I had to find a way to cut them out) I now do Sunday food prep each week and it has made my life SOOO much better! http://girlonthemoveblog.com/2013/10/07/clean-food-prep-week-one/

I’ve been thinking about this health thing for a while, because my family has a tendency toward heart disease and diabetes. While I’m not hugely unhealthy, I could stand to exercise more, eat better, and just generally stop treating my body the way college students do. I think because these lifestyle-related illnesses are far off, they seem less scary in the present. Maybe what helped you was seeing that immediate financial pain. Like, if you stopped going out, you’d save money that same month. Whereas the best health benefits, like a better quality of life in old age, won’t be realized for decades.

Yeah that’s probably the reason so many of us don’t live healthier lives, we’re too impatient. We want to see some result from our efforts right away. I have to say that now I’m much more motivated by my results than the money I’m saving. But that is because it’s not a distant thought anymore, I can see it happening right before my eyes :)

I kind of wish you’d waited three months to write the article and could tell us about your six-pack and end of student loans. Staying motivated over the long term is the biggest challenge. Still, three months is a milestone and you’re on a great path. Please keep it up and update when you’ve reached more of your goals!

Well done! I take a similar approach, and also consider the waste generated when overeating or just living a wasteful lifestyle. You work a lot to pay for things/food you don’t need? Not very productive. I try to only use what I need and as a result eat healthier.

Thanks for the post… I was tempted to skip my morning walk… but nope… I need to take it. I am in the same place you were as far as weight… I’m 235 (possibly 237 at this moment) lbs, and my goal weight is 200 lbs (I am six feet tall). I don’t smoke… but I spend too much money on going out. I resolve to take my morning walk today and go to my running group this evening!

I can relate to your epiphany. Having to pay to have several cavities filled (about $300 each) really burned my biscuits and ever since then I’ve been way more serious about flossing and taking care of my teeth. For the money I spent at the dentist, I could have had a great vacation – way more preferable.

Even though it was the money that motivated me, having healthy teeth is the true benefit, I hope to keep the ones I have for 60+ more years.

I can relate to that,
had to pay $1500 to the dentist a couple of years ago, root canals etc. It was like paying a fortune for someone to torture you :S
But like you then I started taking care of my teeth

Congrats on quitting smoking especially! I quit, but it took me 2 years of trying. Just stay vigilant, realize that the next time you do party with your friends you might be tempted. Even if you do slip up, just quit again immediately. I also marked off days on the calendar that I didn’t smoke. It’s awesome to see those Xs and it makes you not want to break the streak.

Congratulations! Today, I bought lunch meat for the week. 3 lbs for $11 and it will last all week and weekend. Maybe it’s not particularly healthy at the moment, it’s a start and healthier than what I was eating. I’ve been spending around $10 per day on lunch.

I went through a similar experience. I had been selling life insurance for a few months. It seemed like every client I spoke with was on some type of medication. I began researching various diseases and prevention.

What I found completely changed my definition of “healthy”. I changed my diet and exercise regime. I ended up losing 40 lbs.

Congrats, what a great story! For me, one of the hardest things is consistently cooking, because going out to eat is so easy and so tasty. (of course, it’s just as tasty when I cook)… the cooking once a week is a good idea, because you have homemade food already prepared when you get home and don’t feel like cooking!

I really like this article, very informative on changing your life and saving money, cooking is the only way to go if you really want to save money, check how much money you spend on buy food for a year, that really hurts.

I personally cook all healthy items at home for my family. I don’t prefer outside jun foods normally. Home made items will save us in many things like saving our own health from risks or abnormal conditions and also it saves a lot of money too….While travelling we prefer to pack home made items that keeps us more active too.

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My name is J.D. Roth. I started Get Rich Slowly in 2006 to document my personal journey as I dug out of debt. Then I shared while I learned to save and invest. Twelve years later, I've managed to reach early retirement! I'm here to help you master your money — and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you get rich slowly. Read more.

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